The upper assembly is pretty close to being completely assembled and closer to being ready to
mate it with the lower assembly and do a thorough function check before heading out to the range
for some serious testing and evaluation. As was mentioned earlier, my camo'd handguards, pistol
grip, buttstock and magazine came in the mail the other day. We'll show the camo'd handguards and
buttstock during the installation section on this page (They look rather spiffy 'eh?) =). So.. let's
get the FN/FAL ready to rumble!!!!
Before we mate the upper assembly with the lower, we need to install a couple more items. Well we *could*
do these later, but I wanted to ensure the bolt/carrier group functioned smoothly after installing the
scope mount (Top Pic). As was mentioned earlier, TAPCO's 3rd generation scope mount had been getting some
bad reviews in the forums relating to bolt carrier interference. I found that if ya slid the bolt carrier
group into the upper *then* attached the scope mount where the stock dust cover goes and tighten the four
screws that hold it on in a "crisscross" pattern (Bottom Pic), that issue was non-existant. At least in my
experience I was able to install the scope mount onto the upper with minimal effort and literally no binding of the
bolt/carrier group was noted. Be sure and uses a little dab of "removeable" loctite or your favorite thread
locking compound to the threads of the scope mount screws to ensure they stay put.
Before putting the bolt/carrier group away for later installation, I went ahead and lubed it up.
Putting a little drop of FP-10 on the lugs of the
bolt where it pivots in the bolt carrier, and a small drop on the extractor pivot (Upper Left Pic),
I inserted the bolt into postion within the bolt carrier. After ensuring all points of contact within
the carrier/bolt cavity had a little oil to aid in function, I took some "Rig" grease (Upper Right Pic)
and liberally applied it to the rails of the bolt carrier that slide back and forth in the upper. It's
still summer here in South Texas, so grease was used instead of oil in this critical spot to ensure it
remained lubricated and all slickery for smooth functioning. If it was the cooler part of the year, I
would substitute the "Rig" grease with
FP-10. George Fennell, Vice President of MPC Products has
advised me that his Firepower FP-10 "wet can" grease should handle this job also. As soon as I get a tub of it,
I'll put it to the test before I give it the "Bandit's Seal of Approval." =) If it's as good as the CLP is, it'll
replace Rig grease in all the firearms I own where I use grease instead of oil during the "Dog Days of Summer."
At this time, I set aside the bolt/carrier group for later installation after the upper and lower
are mated together.
While I was in the "lubrication mood", I FP-10'd the critical locations (H/T/S pivot pins, locking latch
assembly, and selector lever) within the lower assembly (Bottom Pic). Nice thing about FP-10 other than
being an *excellent* Cleaning Lubrication and Preservative (CLP) product, is that it stays where ya put it.
Before setting the lower assembly aside, I went ahead and swapped out the buttstock and extra (US)
pistol grip that was installed during initial testing, with the camo'd Steyr buttstock and (US) pistol
grip I got back from
Mad Dog 7.62 along with the handguards and magazine that were also camo'd in a textured finish
(Above Pic). I won't bore you with their installation details, since it is described on the
Assemble Lower page. I will however mention that I cleaned
up the recoil spring assembly with FP-10 to replace the Rem-Oil it had previously been lubricated
with. I'm really impressed with FP-10 (in case you haven't noticed) since acquiring a bottle and using
it in all of my pistols. It's "Good Stuff Maynard"!! =)
Finally it's time to mate the upper with the lower assembly. This task is kinda anti-climatic at
this juncture, since all that is required to do, is to insert the upper into the lower assembly,
line up the pivot pin holes and insert the two piece pivot pin and tighten it down. Next, I
inserted the thoroughly lubed bolt/carrier group into the upper receiver (Pic Above Left), then latched
the assembly together. Final assembly step, was to install the folding charging handle into it's slot in
the upper receiver (Pic Above Right), insert the cocking lug (A) that engages the bolt carrier through
the receiver into the charging handle, followed by the cross pin (B) that holds the cocking lug in place.
All that was left is to fondle the carbine and admire my handy work (Pic Below). =)
The FN/FAL "Texas Jungle" Carbine is fully assembled, but before I put it away while waiting
for range time, I did yet another function test to ensure all was kosher. If you have been
following along with this project before the menu restructureing, you'll know that we had a H/T/S issue
that reared it's ugly head during the initial test fire sessions.
One little tidbit of information I picked up from Harold Shinn
of FSE, was to hold the trigger back while releasing the bolt into full battery letting it slam home under the
recoil system's tension to see whether or not the hammer follows the bolt forward. I didn't check this before
and found out at the range that this indeed would happen with the orignal H/T/S I had installed previously
resulting in double fires. This is not a very safe situation to have happen, since the cartridge could conceivably
be ignited before it was fully supported by the barrels chamber. All has been rectified and fixed thanks to the
patience and outstanding customer service I received from Harold, FSE's president. If you haven't already, Check
out the Range Testing page which discusses the H/T/S issue further and documents the
range testing sessions.
Shoot Safe!!!
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The upper assembly is pretty close to being completely assembled and closer to being ready to mate it with the lower assembly and do a thorough function check before heading out to the range for some serious testing and evaluation. As was mentioned earlier, my camo'd handguards, pistol grip, buttstock and magazine came in the mail the other day. We'll show the camo'd handguards and buttstock during the installation section on this page (They look rather spiffy 'eh?) =). So.. let's get the FN/FAL ready to rumble!!!!
The FN/FAL "Texas Jungle" Carbine is fully assembled, but before I put it away while waiting for range time, I did yet another function test to ensure all was kosher. If you have been following along with this project before the menu restructureing, you'll know that we had a H/T/S issue that reared it's ugly head during the initial test fire sessions. One little tidbit of information I picked up from Harold Shinn of FSE, was to hold the trigger back while releasing the bolt into full battery letting it slam home under the recoil system's tension to see whether or not the hammer follows the bolt forward. I didn't check this before and found out at the range that this indeed would happen with the orignal H/T/S I had installed previously resulting in double fires. This is not a very safe situation to have happen, since the cartridge could conceivably be ignited before it was fully supported by the barrels chamber. All has been rectified and fixed thanks to the patience and outstanding customer service I received from Harold, FSE's president. If you haven't already, Check out the Range Testing page which discusses the H/T/S issue further and documents the range testing sessions.
